1. Oklahoma (0-1)

Quick Take: The Sooners weren’t physical enough. The ground game didn’t pound away enough and didn’t wear down the Houston defense. The Cougars stayed fast, stayed aggressive, and they stayed swarming around the Sooner attack. There weren’t enough big plays made down the field with plenty of midrange passes, and Baker Mayfield was terrific, but when the offense needed to blast away to give the defense a little bit of a break, it couldn’t do it.
– Houston shocks Oklahoma: 5 Things That Matter

2. Texas (1-0)

Quick Take: It’s way too early to do a what-does-it-all-mean thing for Charlie Strong, especially considering there’s so much work ahead. Lose four games this year, and he’s back on the hot seat. But after this brilliant performance against a terrific Notre Dame team, Texas has a direction. It has the Sterlin Gilbert sped up attack combined with the thunder of the big backs along with Tyrone Swoopes to get tough and nasty. Shane Buechele completed 16-of-26 passes for 280 yards and two scores with a pick, and he showed a little mobility, too, running for 33 yards and a score. Texas has a big-time quarterback, it has more big-time players, and now, it has the big-time win its been waiting for.
– Texas rumbles over Notre Dame: 5 Things That Matter

3. Baylor (1-0)

Quick Take: It was target practice time, and in the light scrimmage, Baylor did what it had to do on the way to a 48-0 halftime lead before taking it easy. Seth Russell proved he could take a shot again, Shock Linwood and Terence Williams took off for big runs with Johnny Jefferson out, and the passing game worked out just fine. It’s Baylor, so there will be penalties, but it would be nice under the new head coach if those slowed down – the Bears got flagged 12 times for 93 yards.

4. Oklahoma State (1-0)

Quick Take: This was the dream of an opener. It was a blowout right away, allowing Oklahoma State to get the backups in and being able to play around with the depth. Mason Rudolph was solid throwing for two touchdowns, but everyone seemed to get into the act without any real pushback. The defense came up with four takeaways, gave up one meaningless scoring drive, and got the season off to an easy start.

5. TCU (1-0)

Final Score: TCU 59, South Dakota State 41Prediction: TCU 41, South Dakota State 13Up Next: Arkansas

Quick Take: Yeeeeesh. Outside of two picks on two straight throws, Kenny Hill was magnificent in his first start – throwing for 439 yards and two touchdowns and running for three scores – and the offense couldn’t be stopped, but that wasn’t the concern. The defense that was supposed to be among the best in the Big 12 was a disaster, giving up big play after big play and getting ripped apart by the Jackrabbit passing game. The pass rush eventually slowed things down, but with Arkansas coming up next, there’s a lot of proving to do for a D that needs a big week of readjustment.

6. West Virginia (1-0)

Quick Take: How hurt are QB Skyler Howard and RB Rushel Shell? They were both banged up, but Shell’s leg cramps shouldn’t be that big a deal and Howard’s rib injury is supposed to be okay. That’s what Youngstown State is for next week – the team needs to rest up after a good first win. The defense did a nice job of not letting Mizzou’s offense get into any groove, and the offense was balanced and effective early on. It might not have been an explosive game, but the Mountaineers beat an SEC team by double digits. It all worked out fine.

7. Kansas State (0-1)

Quick Take: The Wildcats came up with a terrific effort and almost pulled it off – even though they were badly outplayed at times. Two turnovers, a few pass interference calls that should’ve been made on the Cardinal, and no passing game until the very end proved to be the undoing. As always, K-State has to be perfect, and it lost the turnover battle and the penalty fight, but the D did a nice job against Christian McCaffrey – stats aside – and Jesse Ertz fought his way through a rough game to prove he’s the main man to run the attack.
– Stanford gets by Kansas State: 5 Things That Matter

8. Texas Tech (1-0)

Quick Take: With a 45-3 lead, the Red Raiders looked razor sharp right out of the gate. Patrick Mahomes did whatever he wanted with 483 yards, four touchdown passes and two rushing scores, while 17 receivers got involved in the blowout. The much-maligned D wasn’t a rock, but it forced three takeaways and didn’t have to work too hard thanks to Mahomes.

9. Iowa State (0-1)

Quick Take: Utterly disastrous. Any hope of getting to six wins in Matt Campbell’s first season is gone with a rough loss in a game that was there for the taking. There was absolutely no running game with Mike Warren getting stuffed for 30 yards on 12 carries, and Joel Lanning couldn’t pick up the slack through the air with two picks proving costly. Worst of, as badly as the O played, all the D had to do was hang on, but that was a problem after Warren fumbled the ball away and Lanning threw an interception. Beating Iowa would make up for this, but it won’t happen if the ground game doesn’t rumble.

10. Kansas (1-0)

Quick Take: It’s the moment the program desperately needed. Forgetting that Rhode Island is awful, the Jayhawks needed to have some fun. David Beaty finally got a win with Montell Cozart throwing three of the six touchdown passes to overcome a mediocre day from the ground game. The defense didn’t led URI to get anything consistently moving, and the offense did its part with a steady overall performance. After Ohio struggled so much with Texas State, now the possibility is there for a 2-0 start. The O line has to be a bit better to pull it off.